Wilfredo Lee/Associated PressAlex Rodriguez will likely follow a carefully constructed script that will dictate exactly how much he tells reporters about his past steroid use when he reports to spring training Tuesday.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The setting is perfect: a large tent. Several dozen members of the Yankees family, from the megastars to the training staff, are expected to gather there Tuesday afternoon as an orchestrated show of support for Alex Rodriguez as he meets the media for the first time.

But make no mistake, they're just as curious as everyone else to see how A-Rod handles the circus. Will he speak from his heart when he addresses his steroid use? Or will he stick to a carefully planned script?

If he is listening to the advice of his other team, expect the latter.

Rodriguez is not leaning on Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi for this one, no matter how many Yankees show up to sit at his side Tuesday. He has hired a communications firm to counsel him through this moment, using the same high-powered flacks who tried to help Sarah Palin through her much-publicized media mishaps during the presidential campaign.

Outside Eyes makes it clear on its website that candor is not the smart move. No, quite to the contrary, the firm encourages "message training," promising to help its clients to "develop a customized strategy to identify the ideal audience and the most effective vehicles to deliver your message." It advises setting up a war room and defining success metrics, whatever that means.

Simple honesty is not the first objective here. "Does your answer leave a confident, memorable first impression?" is what the California-based company asks on its site. "Outside Eyes prepares clients to say everything they need to say and nothing they do not."

So on a day when the Yankees so desperately want A-Rod to answer every question so the team can move on -- just like Andy Pettitte did a year ago this month -- it is far more likely he will take a more calculated approach, one that fits his personality.

Pettitte answered questions for nearly an hour in a wide-ranging and often emotional press conference. No one around the Yankees expects Rodriguez to spend as much time doing the same, nor does anyone think he'll be as upfront about his transgressions.

If that's true, then this is what has to concern the Yankees the most: The more he dodges questions about steroid use, the more the topic will follow him and the team as the season progresses.

"Everybody is different," Pettitte said Monday. "I don't know what Alex plans to do. For me, it really didn't matter what lawyers said or whatever. I was going to get it all out."

Pettitte has offered advice to A-Rod, but it speaks volumes about the slugger that, from the beginning, he sought professional help.

Representatives from Outside Eyes were in the room coaching Rodriguez before his confession to Peter Gammons on ESPN, and they were there when A-Rod called Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts to apologize for attacking her during the interview.

These are heavy-duty flacks, trained in dealing with political scandals and celebrity disasters. Two of its founding partners have experience in the Bush White House. Just a few months ago, Ben Porritt was a spokesman for the McCain campaign, handling Sarah Palin.

Porritt, who did not return phone calls Monday to discuss his latest client, was the one who answered questions on cable news network MSNBC to defend Palin when the vice presidential candidate insisted that the First Amendment should protect her from attacks from the news.

"It's unfortunate to see such a fine young mind wasted on the defense of egomaniacs and charlatans," said Sara K. Smith, one of the writers for the political blog Wonkette, "but if that's the choice he's made, then the transition from the McCain campaign to Alex Rodriguez seems like a pretty natural one."

Then again, with the always impressionable A-Rod, you can never be sure whose advice he's taking. His personal PR agent is Richard Rubenstein, whose father, Howard, has long represented Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Agent Scott Boras is back in the picture after their falling-out two autumns ago, and so is ex-wife Cynthia.

The point is, he is always seeking counsel from somebody, and that means what happens under that tent Tuesday afternoon is more likely to be contrived than genuinely contrite.

"Really, there's nobody who can help you go through this," Pettitte said. "I just decided with my deal, I was going to sit there and whenever people ask me a question, I was going to tell them the honest truth, whether it be about my feelings or what happened."

The honest truth? Sadly for the Yankees, Outside Eyes does not explain how that fits with its message training.